US Ebola Patient, Thomas Duncan, Dies

The first person to be diagnosed with Ebola within the US has died,
Texas hospital officials have said.

Thomas Duncan, who caught the virus in his native Liberia, was being
kept in isolation in a Dallas hospital and receiving experimental
drugs.

Earlier the US announced new security procedures at entry points to
check travellers for symptoms of the virus.

More than 3,000 people have died in West Africa in the worst Ebola outbreak yet.

While Duncan was the first person to be diagnosed within the US, three
American aid workers and a photojournalist contracted the virus in
Liberia.

"It is with profound sadness and heartfelt disappointment that we must
inform you of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan this morning at 7:51
am," a spokesman said in a statement.

The news came shortly after US Secretary of State John Kerry urged all
nations to boost their response to combat the virus.

"More countries can and must step up," he said in a joint press
conference with his British counterpart Philip Hammond.

The US has pledged as many as 4,000 troops to the region, while the UK
is sending 750 military personnel to Sierra Leone.

Duncan, a Liberian national, tested positive in Dallas, Texas, on 30
September, 10 days after arriving on a flight from Monrovia via
Brussels.

After going to hospital with symptoms, he told them he had been to
Liberia but was sent home with antibiotics.

Four days later, he was placed in isolation and given an experimental
drug to treat Ebola, but his condition continued to worsen.

Following Duncan's diagnosis, the first case of contagion outside that
continent was confirmed in Spain, where a nurse who treated an Ebola
victim in Madrid contracted the virus herself.

Ebola spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of someone who
has the virus and the only way to stop an outbreak is to isolate those
who are infected.

Earlier on Wednesday, US officials announced travellers from
Ebola-affected countries will face increased security scrutiny at
American airports.

The Department of Homeland Security has ordered agents at airports and
other ports to "observe" arrivals for potential signs of Ebola
infection.

The new security measures, rolled out by the Transportation Security
Administration, will reportedly take effect this weekend or early next
week.